PhD

Finance

The Finance group at MIT Sloan delves into the study of markets for real and financial assets, emphasizing the practical applications of modern financial theory widely adopted by Wall Street and corporations. Students gain a robust understanding of foundational theories and acquire the tools necessary for conducting both theoretical and applied research. After completing coursework in microeconomics and macroeconomics, students tailor their research programs with faculty guidance, often contributing to and expanding on faculty research. Notable faculty members include Hui Chen, whose research intersects asset pricing and corporate finance; Deborah Lucas, known for her work on public sector financial management; and Maryam Farboodi, who explores the economics of big data and its impact on financial markets. 

Research from Finance Faculty

Press The New Yorker

How WhatsApp took over the global conversation

The Federal Trade Commission asked professor Sinan Aral to study Meta's monetization of WhatsApp so far. "It was very slow to do that, maybe deliberately," Aral said. "I would consider it close to a failure." But Aral also believes that this is about to change. "You will see the WhatsApp-monetization spigot get turned on like you have not seen before, in the near future," he said.

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Press CNBC

Bigger tax refunds are coming for 2026 — what it could mean for the economy

Some analysts have said that bigger tax refunds in early 2026 could boost consumer demand and inflation pressure. "It could easily be inflationary," said professor Jonathan Parker. The stimulus checks issued during the Covid-19 pandemic were "certainly correlated" with higher inflation, Parker told CNBC. Issued in 2020 and 2021, these payments were a "contributing factor" to the size of the subsequent inflation boom, he said.

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Full-Time Faculty

Paul Asquith

Paul Asquith

Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance

Paul Asquith is the Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Asquith is a specialist in corporate finance and a media source for the field of corporate finance and control, including…

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Hui Chen

Hui Chen

Nomura Professor of Finance

Hui Chen is the Nomura Professor of Finance and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research focuses on asset pricing and its connections with corporate finance. Chen is particularly interested in the interactions…

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Taha Choukhmane

Taha Choukhmane

Albert F. (1942) & Jeanne P. Clear Career Development Assistant Professor in Global Management

Taha Choukhmane is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He was most recently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research interests lie at the intersection of household finance…

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John C. Cox

John C. Cox

Nomura Professor of Finance, Emeritus

John Cox is the Nomura Professor of Finance, Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management. A leading authority on corporate finance and finance theory, Cox has developed an inter-temporal financial model broad enough to include the fundamental…

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